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Rafe's Blackmoor Campaign Overview - Rafael - 07-11-2014
Hi all,
I am skimming through all my campaign notes, these days, and thought - why not make a list like Havard has done?
Words to the wise, don't make the mistake I made in my early 20s, and throw away all your campaign notes.
It's really hard to remember stuff, even just a few years later.
Now, about the list below, it is important to know that the games are not always necessarily set within the same continuity; over the last ten years, "Blackmoor's Known World" has often been my first choice of convenience, especially, when I ran a module with no setting background specified. I retconned most of them later on, again out of convenience, into The Last Fantasy Campaign, but sometimes the timelines certainly overlap, or contradict each other.
The World (of my gaming table) before Blackmoor!
Gosh, I really don't remember! During my school days, lots of MERP, lots of D&D 2e, also lots of HeroQuest/Warhammer Quest. In 2002, I played in sort of an Al Quadim/Midgard hybrid, and ran a Dragonlance/Taladas campaign, which was sort of the my coming-of-age moment as a gamer. (I don't even remember the system, nor if the campaign concluded in '03, or '04. :oops:
) In 2004, I started DMing Ravenloft on a regular basis, and would go on doing so until, probably, 2011. I remain primarily a horror game DM, outside of the internet, but I usually use less specific environments than the World of Mists, nowadays. Some time during that time, I ran a game based on "The Lost City of Gaxmoor", set in the world that was later used as the basic setting for the C&C game: In great part, that game would become the blueprint for "The War of the Thieves", and later installments of the LFC.Finally, Blackmoor: The Nuchar Continuity (Summer 2004 - Winter 2008)
A loose conglomerate of games with the same players, set around 1029-1030 NC. Based on the DA series, and on the BM d20 book alone, this game merely used BM as a backdrop for modules I wanted to run; I think bought the Blackmoor book because I thought it was a Greyhawk supplement, or something. ...And that's how the madness begun.
Nuchar, in terms I apply today, was the tormented soul of a Sorcerer King, and one of the campaign continuity's BBEGs. He is, by my standard's today, not a very notwworthy baddie, being partly inspired by the child ghosts from the Silent Hill series, and Lysandus from the Daggerfall PC game.The game itself, run in d20, evolved a lot around several of Atlas Games' Penumbra RPG books, namely "The Maiden Voyage" (no relation) which featured Rowell's first appearance, and "The Ebon Mirror". We also played out a couple of the AEG d20 modules ("Against the Barrow King" was used as Nuchar's Lair", for example), as well as some of the BM d20 adventures, namely "The Redwood Scar", Gawaine's first appearance, as well as "Ties That Bind", which was easily my favorite part of that specific campaign.
We didn't have an epic metaplot accompanying the adventures, and rarely interacted with any of the setting's VIPs. I also ran "Caverns of Thracia" for the group, as well as some other modules by Paul Jaquays, but I get fuzzy with the details, now that I think of it. Most of the games were not set in Blackmoor itself, though, but in the area around Boggy Bottom and Fairfield Abbey. The farthest north we went was, I think, Archlis.
The Last Fantasy Campaign - I promise, I'll keep this short. Running from 2005 to 2015.
“The Grim Winter”, PBP, 2005-2009. - The start of the epic, and the War of Ten with Teddybears. 1031-1032 NC.
“The War of the Thieves”, PBP, 2005-2008. - To a degree, the full merger between the LFC and the Nuchar timelines - in both games, the thieves guild conquers the old city of the moon goddess. 1032 NC.
“Die weiße Stadt/The White City”, PBP, 2009. - Silent Hill on the Egg's Island. Including a very, very nasty Pinhead demon. 1032 NC.
“The Road”, Collaborative Writing, 2009. - The Egg attacked, and Karl Winters had his bachelor party. Not sure what caused more damage. 1032-1037.
"Die Dämonen des Frühlings", Tabletop Game, 2009. Essentially, the German version of "The Ghosts of Summer", but with Marban closer to Ravilla. Fey are evil. Very.
“The Evil That Came To Jackport”. - Played in Person at RopeCon 2011, in Helsinki, Finland, with a viking, a bathroom troll, and an angry worm god. 1034 NC. (IIRC)
The Promised Land, PBP, 2010-2012. - The grand finale of the LFC. Skelfer is Ran, Uther's alive, and in the end, Sven will be king. 1037-1040 NC.
Games set in Blackmoor's future - until the start of the Demon Wars... :twisted:
The following may or may not be part of LFC continuity. - Some clearly are, but with some, I have not decided yet.
“The Stone Forest”, PBP, 2008. - Lamentably, all the files are lost. Based on the overworld map from Adventures in Fantasy. In short, gorgons ate the party. 1080 NC.
“The Ghosts of Summer”, PBP, 2011-2012. A haunted castle, and Gorileth spectre, a real pain the behinds. The first real introduction in my own expanded version of Blackmoor. 1120 NC.
"The Age of Theodore", PBP, 2013. The game that would not be. The descendants of the Company of the Maiden against the Green Emperor of Viridistan. Written out extensively, but never played. 1450 NC.
"Hexenkessel/"The Witches' Cauldron", Tabletop, 2014. A short adventuring sequence, set 80 years AFTER the "Age of the Theodore", and during the start of the Demon Wars. 1530 NC.
Related games
Where the connection to Blackmoor is evident, but never explicitly defined.
“The Tomb of Rahotep”, PBP, 2007-2015. - Run by Clarence. A replay of Gary Gygax' "Necropolis" adventure, featuring Sol, Sven's uncle, and Ivid, a relative to Rowell.
“Tales from the Vales, PBP”, 2012-Present. - Run by Havard. Sort of a prequel to the LFC, in that the connection is so far being left open, but that many characters are sort of related.
"Mordred - The Last Adventure's" Dark Tree and House of Lost Play. PBPs, 2012-2013. Two games, again, not anyway, canonically related, and set in a world I prepare for publication as an independent setting; now, since so many of the members of the Company of the Maiden joined, I decided to make the games two bridge-adventures, that would lead the descendants of the Company of the Maiden embark on new adventures in a new world... :wink:
"Firewater", Tabletop, 2014. - An adventure that retells the story of the awakening of BM dungeon - effectively retconning the start of the FFC; might see some sort of print publication, even.
More on that, later. "The House on Hangman's Hill" Tabletop, 2014. - The passing of the torch. Three youngsters, marvelled. An aging adventurer, content.
"Firewater II", Tabletop, 2015. - Set in the same continuity as the game of the year before, an attempt at Glendower dungeon, with LFC references galore.
"That Dreadful Incident with the Cow, Tabletop, 2015. - Last game in Blackmoor, ever?! Last game in Blackmoor, ever!
Re: Rafe's Blackmoor Campaign Overview - Havard - 07-11-2014
Great overview. Thanks for sharing! The more campaigns we can read about here the better.
The RopeCon game was truly a gem.
-Havard
Re: Rafe's Blackmoor Campaign Overview - Rafael - 07-11-2014
I am very thankful that you started this.
Games at the end of the day, are not events of such importance that one really keeps the details in mind. Like, even now I recall two or three events and entire campaigns I didn't list - the Firewater/FFC game from this spring, for example. Once I get all the paperwork done, you know that I am already thinking about a new game - in BM, no less...
Re: Rafe's Blackmoor Campaign Overview - Rafael - 07-11-2014
Also, hell yeah, RopeCon rocked! Maybe, just maybe, we might get the chance to repeat that one, some time soon...
Re: Rafe's Blackmoor Campaign Overview - FXR - 07-14-2014
Quote:“Die weiße Stadt/The White City”, PBP, 2009. - Silent Hill on the Egg's Island. Including a very, very nasty Pinhead demon. 1032 NC.
I'm quite curious about this one. Care to give us a few more details?
FX
Re: Rafe's Blackmoor Campaign Overview - Rafael - 07-15-2014
Sure.
First, on the PBP itself: That one was a rather poor outing of myself; I started it some time when PL was concluding - and PL concluded, essentially, because my schedule was getting even more stacked than it already was. As in, in 2011-2012, I was one of these overambitious, five-hours-per-night sleepers, and that burned me out on online games, on the long run. [/whine]
Second, the campaign, I had fully developed BEFORE I started the game. It was supposed to be one of those open-ended city adventures. "Gaxmoor", "Eldarad", and other adventures in the same vein are what I prefer for my own home tabletop games; so, I really put that kind of game up when I want something that I can run out of my bag of tricks without much looking, so to speak.
For this game, I used the basic plot of the Silent Hill series:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_Hill#Silent_Hill
Quote:All the plots of the installments in the Silent Hill series, except Shattered Memories, share a common setting: the foggy rural American town of Silent Hill, which is a fictitious location. The series' player characters experience an occasional dark alteration of reality called the "Otherworld"; In the latter, lack of application of physical laws can occur, with having a varying form but most frequently assuming one whose physical appearance is based on that of Silent Hill, and the series' characters experiencing delusions and encountering tangible symbols of elements from their unconscious minds, mental states, and innermost thoughts when present in it, manifested into the real world. The origin of these manifestations is a maleficent power native to Silent Hill, which materializes human thoughts; this force was formerly non-evil, but was corrupted by the occurrence of certain events in the area. Recurring monsters include the Nurses who are included in almost every Silent Hill game; Pyramid Head, another recurring monster who became the series mascot; and Robbie the Rabbit, an amusement park mascot. Also, a dog named Mira is included in many joke endings. Another recurring plot trait in the Silent Hill series is a fictitious religious cult known only as The Order. The organization has certain members who act as antagonists in most of the series' installments and operates the "Wish House" (also called "Hope House"), an orphanage for poor and homeless children built by a charity organization called the "Silent Hill Smile Support Society". The religion followed by the Order is heathen, focusing on the worship of a chief deity, who is named Samael but was always called "God". The group's dogma is derived from a myth: the deity set out to create paradise, but ran out of power during the process; she will someday be resurrected, thus becoming able to finally create paradise and save mankind. The town's cult repeatedly participates in illegal acts: ritual human sacrifices whose purpose is the deity's resurrection, illegal drug trade, and kidnapping and confinement of children in a facility to teach them its dogma through brainwashing, while presenting the facility as an orphanage. Also repeatedly featured are various religious items with magical properties, appearing widely in the games of the series.
More info, you can find here
http://silenthill.wikia.com/wiki/Silent_Hill,_Maine
http://silenthill.wikia.com/wiki/Fog_World
http://silenthill.wikia.com/wiki/Otherworld
http://silenthill.wikia.com/wiki/Seal_of_Metatron
The basic idea was that, in accordance with the LFC continuity, the Westryn would infiltrate the city, trying to summon a powerful demon, and taking advantage of the obvious planar hickup. Not very sophisticated, but effective, in terms of game moments.
Pyramid Head, who actually appeared in the parts we played through, was supposed to be some sort of mutated orc, with the orc tribe also possibly featuring in.
Why "Silent Hill"? Hadn't the universe of "The Company of the Maiden" seen enough child ghosts? :twisted:
- Because Silent Hill genuinely frightens me; I am usually pretty immune against horror material. But Silent Hill I, and especially Silent Hill II, they are made of that stuff that makes me go primal. ...And I wanted my players to share my dread. :twisted:
Now, in game terms, the big tongue-in-cheek twist was the map I used:
The story was supposed to take place in a Silent Hill version of Osgiliath.
And that, in all modesty, made for a freaking cool campaign.
http://narsil.webcindario.com/imagenes/ ... iliath.jpg
Re: Rafe's Blackmoor Campaign Overview - Rafael - 10-15-2014
Old habits don't go away easily, and, as always when I spend too much time around my old home in Germany, I end up running a Ravenloft game.
You can read about it over here:
http://www.fraternityofshadows.com/foru ... f=1&t=9105
Not a biggie, really, just a happy leisure time horrorcrawl, but since I talked above about how I ran games set in RL for the better part of last decade, this is what they usually look like.
Interestingly enough, Ravenloft is the constant in all my gaming, not, as you guys might rightfully assume, Blackmoor. I am far from being a great collector, and far from being all too ambitious in my approach to the games, but it's still, after all these years, my preferred playground - if not the setting itself, then its approach to fantasy.
Re: Rafe's Blackmoor Campaign Overview - Rafael - 12-10-2014
FWIW, in November, I ran a mashup of the "Lamentations of the Flame Princess" introductory adventure, and the classic JG module "House on Hangman's Hill", set in Blackmoor, set in the LFC continuity, and set in the 1060s, twenty years after the conclusion of the LFC. The questgiver to the harrowing tale of mold driving people insane was "Black John", Rowell's successor as the head of the Thieves' Coven - and, in fact, the older John from the early Grim Winter chapters, now sporting the features of an older Quinlan Vos (from the Star Wars EU), the line of paint over his face being of the eponymous black color, though.
This game is especially noteworthy because I ran it for the three youngsters that many years ago, and in a rather spontaneous decision, served as the namegivers to Jacob, John, and Zuki, Rowell's apprentices during the Grim Winter. The three kids had never played an RPG before, and, while the adventure was pretty lame (I don't do "fit for all ages" all too well), they asked me to prepare another, less spontaneous, and bigger session for them when I visit them again in January.
Given that I recently gave them my collection of the German Dragonlance Chronicles & Legends series, I am inclined to say: Torch passed.
Re: Rafe's Blackmoor Campaign Overview - Yaztromo - 12-10-2014
Souinds like a really interesting mashup!
Re: Rafe's Blackmoor Campaign Overview - Rafael - 04-10-2015
In case I forget later:
Like "Firewater" last year, I am running a Blackmoor game next weekend at a local convention.
(At this point, lamentably a once-a-year experience,
http://www.main-wuerfel.de/
My shtick being that I reimagine a classic scenario from the FFC days (within the LFC continuity).
Last year was the awakening of the Blackmoor dungeon, this year will be the siege of Glendower.
Like with the game last year, I reserve all too detailed descriptions of the game for the time after the bout:
Basically, I am working on the concept, though, that the dungeon of Glendower was left unfinished, and that it remaining in this state had to do with... An ill-humoured dragon.